Aeren sat on a broken tree and surveyed the condition of his surroundings—nothing remained. Everything was destroyed. All the trees were broken to nothing, and the forest looked barren with nothing but destruction.
Aeren glanced around the area and saw that half of the elf population had been erased without notice. People's bodies were everywhere like trash. If they had fought any longer, they would have cleaned the entire continent without even noticing.
Aeren watched everything around him. He didn't even pity those beautiful elves and let them die. Then he ignored all the destruction and turned his head to the two people on the ground.
"Why do you desire me?"
Both of them were shocked by Aeren's question and didn't understand at all. The Empress thought, When did I desire you? I just wanted to live.
The Real One looked at Aeren and saw he was serious about his question. He thought, Did I really desire him? No, I never desired Aeren. I always wanted power that surpassed the limits of the world.
The Real One's lips trembled before Aeren. "I did not desire you. I always wanted power to become the strongest."
He barely managed to say all those words and could barely keep his eyes open, but he said what he really wanted to. Aeren looked back at the Real One with no expression, just staring at him.
"What do you mean by strongest?"
The Real One didn't understand Aeren at all. In his eyes, everyone wanted to be strong and show their power to the world. But Aeren looked different, like there was no meaning to being "strongest." This confused the Real One, and he thought, Maybe when you reach a level like Aeren, there's no meaning in being strongest.
"I want to be like you—strong, ruling the world, and doing whatever I want to do."
Aeren's head didn't move, still watching the Real One, who gave his last smile and lost his life like that. Aeren watched him and said, "I'm not strong, and I never desired to be strong. I'm something that is desired by others, and they think they will get me by becoming strong."
Aeren knew he was dead, but he still spoke. The Real One heard every single word but didn't have the power to reply. He still didn't understand and disappeared from the world.
Aeren turned his head to the Empress. She was still alive and looked better than the Real One, staring at him. She had found her true answer—what she really wanted to get in her life and wanted to become.
"I did not desire you, but I had the desire of becoming eternal. I could extend my age through cultivation, but I can't see the goal I wanted to become."
Aeren looked up to the sky and saw the mana around him, thinking, This mana is me—small freedom for this world. This world doesn't have enough mana to reach eternal life. I once dreamed of becoming eternal, but after understanding my true meaning, I never think of eternal life. Without me, eternal life is impossible. I can't be captured and have a loneliness heart with me.
Aeren looked down again at the Empress, who was looking at him with a weird expression. He ignored her strange look.
Aeren had met someone who desired the same thing, but her understanding was too low. She would definitely be captured by death's hand and die in this world. So she could make this world flourish by dying. But it was a pity.
"Do you know? Once I also wished for eternal life, but after meeting loneliness, my true goal changed and I understood something that all living beings want indirectly. But all living beings think too little of that thing, and I understood that meaning. Now, I'm here."
Aeren said with a quiet voice, but she was staring at him and felt sorry for him. He's an idiot. He could have achieved eternal life with his power, but he chose a different path. What an idiot.
The Empress stared but didn't see any guilt or regret in him. She was slightly shocked but thought he was just a child after all.
"How can you find eternal life without me?"
The Empress raised her eyes and felt confused, thinking, He finally lost it. Whatever, it doesn't matter.
"I could have achieved eternal life without you in my life."
She said silently, but Aeren heard her question and watched her for a few seconds, then looked again at the dead bodies of elves around the destruction. "How can you escape death without me?"
The Empress still didn't understand him at all—what did he have to do with death? She sighed and thought, He's right. But I doubt he could help me reach eternal life. How could I escape death? It's impossible.
The Empress stared at him and asked, "Did you reach eternal life?"
Aeren started watching the sky and observed the mana, seeing it had increased by three to fourfold because the demon had died.
"I never desired that thing."
The Empress heard this and started laughing. "HAHAHAHA, I knew it. Then how will you be able to help me escape from death?"
She asked with a serious tone. After hearing Aeren, she wanted to know, even if it was a lie. She wanted to hope that he would tell her the truth.
The Empress stared at him with expectation, but Aeren was still staring at the air, watching something.
Aeren turned his head and said, "Because death is scared of me. Death is the end, and I'm something that has no end. And if I consumed it, it would be destroyed to nothing, and there would be no end left for the world."
The Empress didn't understand his meaning or what he was even saying, but before she could think, she started to feel sleepy and death took her without her knowing what Aeren had said to her.
Aeren was left alone at the broken tree, staring at the sky as the mana increased again. This time it increased tenfold from before. But Aeren didn't care and thought, It's time to end this.
Aeren stood up from his broken tree and went directly to the monster continent. He stared at the continent from the sky and took all the life from the monsters. All the monsters died without knowing what happened to them.
Their lives were taken by Aeren. He had the freedom to take the life of any being he wanted, and no one could restrict him—not life, not death, not anything.
Aeren was freedom, and he could do anything he wanted to do.
Aeren waited in the sky and saw the mana had changed again. This time it increased so high it couldn't be measured by the world.
Aeren waited for the mana to settle and for everything to be set up. The last thing to do was kill Renn.